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An NES, two clones, and the Virtual Console. Where does Mario Look Best?

arstechnica.com — I picked Mario for this experiment, because I feel that everyone knows what Mario is supposed to look like. Also, this is probably going to be the first game that many people play once they get their classic systems back or buy a clone. Are you ready for the pictures? Let's do this thing.

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  • luke--, on 10/12/2007, -22/+28This comparison is useless. Of course the VC looks better it is outputting PROGRESSIVE SCAN with those component cables. Sheesh...
    • strikerK, on 10/12/2007, -14/+42to bad VC games cost way to much.
    • mrfreeziexp, on 10/12/2007, -5/+39Why didn't he just use Wii's composite cables? It would make this a real comparison..
    • dominasian, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24i think they should compare how peach looks. thats what i wanna know
    • UGM2099, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I've been playing alot of VC Super Mario and Legend of Zelda ( I just beat Gannon, go me) and they look extremely nice on an LCD TV.
    • totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6How is it useless? For all we know, Nintendo could have ***** up the graphics on the Virtual Console games, and made no effort to make them look any better, regardless of cables. (i.e. the first iteration of PS2 emulation on the PS3, that thankfully was addressed in a later update)

      Now we know they did the graphics right, and there is some value to getting the games again on VC instead of hooking up the old NES again to play the games.
    • dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27I don't know why Luke is being dug down. The reason you don't see that patterning around mario in the wii picture is because the system is displaying the image at 480 lines, while the other 3 images are displaying at around 240 lines (alternating, maybe less). That's why they have the "zig-zag" pixelation pattern around edges.

      Luke's right. This is a terrible comparison, especially when the wii composite cables were readily available. Sorry, but no digg.
    • ronaldst, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2They could have made the games to be able to take advantage of widescreen TVs.
    • user123, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Actually it looks best in 720p on my xbox or via the PC on my lcd monitor.
      But hey, I wasn't the one who said that "component cables are optional".

      That was Nintendo.
    • LocalH, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@dclowd9901:
      Nope, sorry, wrong. The reason you have those artifacts is because the NES' PPU output straight composite right out of the chip, whereas the VC doesn't. Same reason that (until recently) NES emulators did not really look like an actual NES. It has nothing to do with whether or not you're outputting in progressive scan.

      Unfortunately, for true accuracy, those artifacts *have* to be emulated, as some games used them to generate extra colors (similarly to how the Genesis blends single-pixel dithering together).
  • LukePatrick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11It also clearly says that in the writeup. It's nice to see how good Mario CAN look, but the real comparison is between the NES and the two clones.
  • Kevinok, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Very interesting article, it is good to know how much better it is on the VC.
    • Ndiggnation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It's one thing I've thought about too. One of the first things I noticed when I fired up SMB on the Virtual Console, was how good it looked on the Wii via component cables. I'm sure that's something Nintendo took into consideration too, old games being displayed via outputs that weren't available when the games for the older systems were released.
    • Zunger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I would guess because he's hooking it up to a HDTV and i'm fairly sure that the NES did not come with component cables.
    • craig79, on 10/12/2007, -12/+0The NES did come with component - It was on the side
    • xino, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@craig79 The NES didn't come with component outputs. Those are composite. Component connections consists of 3 wires for video and 2 composite wires for audio.
  • FishPoisonCon, on 10/12/2007, -20/+6who is this "an nes" you speak of?
    • Battlecry, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17It's the vowel sound, not an actual vowel that determines if you use "an" or "a".
    • wqwert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"For choosing a or an, spelling doesn't matter; pronunciation does. A is for consonant sounds; an is for vowel sounds."
      http://www.theslot.com/a-an.html

      edit -- battlecry beat me to it
    • jpbleuu, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3o look a grammar nazi!
    • sctechguy, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4It's also called one of the most popular video game consoles to ever come out for the Gen. X'ers. It debuted in the fall of 1985...I got mine in 1987, and I still have it, too. Also, NES = Nintendo Entertainment System.
    • Jwoey, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2YES, Thank you battle cry!

      I hear 'an eulogy' and want to shoot myself in the face.
    • piesforyou, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5you guys must be saying "NES" differently. To me, NES starts with a consonant sound. Therefore "an NES" doesn't make sense.
    • mourne, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6as odd as it is.. i've known several people that say 'n' 'e' 's' as if it were an acronymn.... cause it is.. So it's not "nes" it's "en ee es" making an NES perfectly acceptable.

      but I'd never write 'an NES'
    • Jeffler, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3It is an acronym, Mourne. N = Nintendo, E = Entertainment, S = System. All the commercials for it say en-ee-ess, not ness. The worst one is the SNES though, s'ness!
    • FishPoisonCon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"It is an acronym"


      so is NASA
    • dante2010, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Why don't you come here and suck my big fat dick?
    • thepxc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2(English accent)I told you once, I've told you an hundred times...
  • GamerX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18I bet this guy bought a 6000$ HDTV only to play Mario "the way it's meant to be pixelated".
  • VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Nice comparison pictures, but this guy needs to learn how to take better pictures of his TV screen, especially the "zoomed out" set. I can't see a comparison because it's all dark, with a circle of flash in the middle.
  • scabbers, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15You would need to plug the NES into a vintage 1985 television set to make this experiment fair.

  • vancanucksfan, on 10/12/2007, -8/+0i got this clone called the peNES. no joke
  • stopple, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1dude! it's NESSSSS rhymes with HESS and LESS

    N - E - S is just a waste of 2 syllables
    • ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2You are wrong sir!

      Also, S-N-E-S for the Super. Unless you're referring to the SNES9x emulator, which I like to call snes9x.
  • mjenkins, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I guess I didn't think through the whole concept - I just assumed that VC and NES versions would look pretty much the same. Good comparison.
  • Splitt3rxx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4that is cool, BUT from my experience the wii version has some graphical glitches, like blinking goombas, parts of them will just blink invisible for a second.
    • shiftless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The emulation is pretty much perfect. It would do that on the original Nintendo. :D

      I'm not quite sure why it's so perfect, but I even get slowdown in the same places! Very odd.
  • shiftless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thanks for the billionth article about how component cables are better than older cables... Hooray *headesk*
  • verifex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You what is even more fun? Get all 4 BAED images and play it on an XBox - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=P0Z&q=big+ass+emulator+disc&btnG=Search
  • GreatDrok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All we're seeing here a combination of the modulators in each console and a crappy comb filter in the TV. A good 3-line or 3D comb filter would make a much better job from a composite signal and yes, the Wii should have been connected using composite too to make this test valid. At least then we would know which console produces the best composite signal but if you can get component out then it really should be better or something is seriously wrong. I remember using my old SNES via RGB-SCART and it produced amazing quality compared with the composite or RF connection most people used at the time.
    • LocalH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I would imagine that, even over composite, VC would look a bit cleaner, as you're not dealing with the NES' NTSC artifact pattern, you're just dealing with standard crosstalk on a signal encoded from pure clean RGB.
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